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Konkurs realioznawczy - The Giant's Causeway
Jeśli wierzyć legendzie, Irlandię zamiedzkiwały niegdyś skrzaty, syreny i olbrzymy. Jednemu z nich przypisywana jest jedna z największych atrakcji turystycznych Zielonej Wyspy: formacja skalna obejmująca 40 tysięcy bazaltowych bloków o zaskakująco symetrycznym kształcie, czyli Giant's Causeway. W naszym kolejnym konkursowym poście prezentujemy legendę o olbrzymie znanym jako Finn MacCool, który dzięki sprytowi swej żony przechytrzył groźnego szkockiego rywala!
Long, long ago when giants roamed the earth, there lived a giant named Finn MacCool. Not only was he a giant: he was also the tallest and strongest giant in Ireland. He was 54 foot tall, his voice was like thunder and he had the strength of 500 men. He lived happily with his wife Oonagh on the Irish coast until he learned about another giant, named Benandonner, who dwelled some 40 kilometres across the sea on the Scottish coast. Benandonner was certain that he was the strongest of all the giants, and he started shouting out insults at Finn.
Finally, he challenged Finn to a duel to see who was the strongest. Finn was very angry, he picked up a huge rock and threw it at Benandonner. He missed, and the rock landed in the middle of the Irish sea, and this is how the Isle of Man was made.
Tired of the Scottish giant’s insults, Finn finally accepted to fight him. He was not a very good swimmer, so he laid down 40,000 pieces of rock with his enormous hands to build a walkway between Northern Ireland and Scotland that he called the causeway. When the Scottish giant heard what Finn was doing, he also decided to build a path from Scotland to meet up with Finn’s path. The two giants worked for weeks and finally they met. Alas, when Finn saw Benandonner coming over the hill, he was terrified because his opponent turned out to be twice his size and he looked twice as strong.
Benandonner had not yet noticed Finn, so the Irish giant decided to run back to his house and ask his wife what to do. She was a clever woman, and she came up with a smart idea. She dressed Finn up as a baby and put him into a huge cradle. When the Scottish giant knocked on the door, ‘the baby’ started to cry. When Benandonner saw how big the infant was, he got scared. He thought that if the baby was so huge, his father must be enormous! Thus, he rushed back to Scotland, destroying the causeway as he went, so that Finn could not come after him. And that is why only two fragments of the causeway now remain, one end on the coast of Northern Ireland and the other on the Scottish coast.
Interesting as it is, the legend is not supported by scientific evidence. Scientists believe that the Giant’s Causeway was first formed over 60 million years ago, following a period of volcanic activity, where the lava cooled and formed these near-perfectly hexagonal interlocking basalt columns. No matter which explanation you prefer, the Giant’s Causeway is undeniably a unique and awe-inspiring site that draws thousands of tourists every year.